I recently posted about how Nora had discovered Tessa.
Now, she is not only aware of Tessa; she thinks Tessa is HYSTERICAL. This is the hardest I have ever heard Nora laugh. It went on for several minutes, as she just could not get enough of her.
I'm not going to lie.
It makes me a little sad when I think about how Tessa's life is going to change when we bring a baby home. Maybe that's pathetic, because I know, she's a dog. But she has been "the baby" for more than four years now, and we know she loves her life. So to upset that just makes me a little sad for her.
No, you're not seeing things...
Today is Tessa's 4-year anniversary with us. April 21 is "Tessa Day."
Oh, Tessa.
It seems like if she doesn't provide us with some kind of health scare, it's not a normal year. Thankfully, this wasn't as serious as the BIG scare in 2008, but it still sucked.
We ended up at the emergency vet today, scared of all the "what ifs."
Back up to yesterday afternoon. We took Tess for a walk, and on the way home, she stopped to sniff what appeared to be a leaf in the grass, so I let her. (She is a dog, after all.) Next thing we knew, she was gulping it up, chewed it twice, and swallowed. I wasn't standing that close to her, so I have no idea what it actually was. The way she chewed it and the way she gobbled it up, it seemed like it was likely discarded food (we were near a couple of restaurants, so it seemed probable). Of course, I was kind of alarmed, but dogs are gross and eat gross things sometimes, so we didn't give it much thought. Tess acted completely normal for the rest of the day, so it was not much of a concern.
But then, at 1:00 a.m., we were awakened by the sound of Tessa jumping off of our bed and heaving her stomach contents onto the floor. Three times. Not a great way to wake up in the middle of the night, I assure you. Although this is definitely not "normal" for her, it has happened before in the four years that we've had her, so generally, we clean up and go back to bed. But given that she had eaten the unknown object earlier in the day, we were significantly more worried than usual.
After cleaning up, we did a series of "tests" to see if Tessa would act as her normal self. We actually took her on a walk up and down our street (yes, at 1:00 a.m.!) to see if she would be up for it. She seemed relatively OK, so we came back and, although worried, got back into bed and tried to get some sleep. Except it wasn't restful, because we both kept waking up to check on the sick little girl.
At 6:00 a.m., I woke up to find Michael awake, concerned that Tessa hadn't yet tried to wake him up. (She is typically so "starved" for food, that she wakes us up as early as she knows is acceptable to make Michael take her outside, feed her, and then AND ONLY THEN will she come back to bed with us to sleep in on the weekends.) It was clear then that Tess definitely hadn't bounced back from her vomiting episode, and she wasn't herself.
Still, we got up and Michael took her outside to see what she'd do. When she came back inside, she didn't run for her food like normal--in fact, she didn't give a crap about it. She ran to me and wanted me to hold her. Obviously a sick little girl! I took her over to the kitchen and gave her a little water, and put a few morsels of food in her bowl. She ate them and didn't seem to suffer any ill effects, so I was pretty encouraged that all would be OK.
But before we went back to bed, I called the emergency vet hotline to ask some questions. The woman on the other end didn't seem extremely concerned either, telling me to just observe her and feed her a bland diet today. Again, we snuggled back up in bed and tried to get a few more hours of sleep.
Between 9:30-10 a.m., we woke up and decided to get up. Tessa was pretty lethargic. Not alarmingly so, but definitely out of the ordinary for her. I tried to give her some more water, but found that although she would drink it, she would unfortunately throw it back up within a minute or so. This happened two or three times before I gave up and became pretty worried.
We decided we'd take her on a short walk to the grocery store to pick up a few things considered part of a "bland diet" for her so we could try to get something in her stomach. But as we were getting dressed to go, Tessa began vomiting again. After she had emptied what little was in her stomach (the food from 6 a.m.), she continued to vomit repeatedly, consisting of only stomach acid and bile (sorry, eww).
I picked up the phone and dialed the emergency vet line immediately, and updated the tech. She still wasn't too concerned, but when I mentioned I was afraid Tess was going to become dehydrated, she asked me to check the color of Tessa's gums. When I did, they were white. The tech said that is "really NOT a good sign" and advised us to bring her in immediately.
*sigh*
Because we had no idea what she had ingested, they had to run blood tests to check for toxins, but they also had to take x-rays to ensure that whatever she ate wasn't causing some kind of G.I. blockage. And of course, in order to get the x-rays, they said they were going to have to give her a mild sedative. NOT what we wanted to hear. He said that he was pretty concerned that she couldn't keep down water and had continued to vomit, even after the 1:00 a.m. episode.
To top it all off, they said that we'd have to leave her there for 1-2 hours while they did these tests and treated her with fluids. HEARTBREAKING, because this little girl hates to be left at the vet. It's seriously traumatizing for her, and she always gives us the saddest looks when we have to hand her over. HATE IT.
After we reluctantly passed her over to the doctor, we left for a while to try to get our minds off of her (impossible) and kill some time. We returned to the hospital about an hour later, only to have to wait almost another hour. It sucked. Sincerely sucked. I had too much time to imagine all possible worst case scenarios and by the time they called us in I was freaking out!
The doctor came in and showed us her x-rays, which were clear (except for some gas bubbles in the intestines, ha!), and told us that her bloodwork came back clear as well. RELIEF. Sweet relief. We paid the bill while they finished up her treatment (they gave her some fluids under her skin to help keep her hydrated), and finally, we were reunited.
Poor girl is STONED. They must've given her some seriously good drugs. When they handed her back to me, she was whining with every breath (as if she was saying, "MAMA! You won't believe what they did to me!") but her tail was wagging because she was happy. But the look in her eyes was far away and she was obviously out of it. Hilarious and so sad, all at the same time.
We've been instructed to keep an eye on her. We had to wait until 8:00 p.m. to feed her, and when we did, it had to be a mixture of boiled hamburger, rice, and low-fat cottage cheese (um, ew!). The vet expects that she'll be feeling loads better tomorrow. I sure hope so.
We're all exhausted from last night's NO SLEEP, so we're heading to bed early. We're thankful to have little Tessa home with us.
Today was so, so beautiful... from beginning to end. I loved every second of today.
Since yesterday was my last day of work and I don't start my new job until Monday, I have myself a lovely little 4-day weekend here. This morning, Michael woke me up to tell me he was leaving for work a bit before 8:00. After he left, I tried to get back to sleep, but was disturbed by the BRIGHTEST SUNLIGHT EVER shining through our bedroom window. It was shining at just the right angle to render our blinds ineffective. I snuggled with Tess and watched TV for a while to see if I would drift off to sleep again, but alas... I just could not wait to get up and enjoy the day.
I "recorded" my day with a series of cell phone pics. Those of you who follow me on Twitter have probably already seen most of these!
First, I ate breakfast, browsed the web, and then relaxed on the couch and watched some morning television. I opened the blinds for Tessa so that she could look out and enjoy lying in the sunshine. My view:
We celebrated a very special birthday in our house yesterday. With a very special birthday treat.
November 3, 2008 was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
One of the worst, if not the worst, of my life. The 10 days that followed were not much better. For those 11 days, Tessa had cancer. But then it turned out that she wasn't sick after all.
Needless to say, a year later, on November 3, 2009, we're in a much better place. Still, we look back.
If I sit and really think about it, I can feel the weight I carried for those 11 days. I can feel the tightness in my chest. I can remember how it felt to fall asleep each night on a pillow damp with tears. I couldn't stand to leave her, even for a few hours. Really, I couldn't bear to look at her. As my pet, my companion, my little girl, I couldn't believe I was losing her.
It was simply a dark time in our lives. I remember the weather. Warm for November. Many of the days were filled with golden, late fall sunshine. We tried to use the weather to our advantage and take Tessa for as many walks as possible. We tried to make up for the walks we didn't take, and the ones we would never take again.
As much as it hurts to look back, I like to do so every once in a while. It helps to put life into perspective. It makes me realize how good things are now. We appreciate the everyday moments with Tess. And as good as life is, I will never forget those days. But life is good, in part, because of those days. In spite of them.
Because ultimately, she is still here.
Today we woke up to beautiful fall weather. We decided to get outdoors and enjoy it.
First, we tackled a few hiking trails in our town. The woods were really beautiful with all of the colorful leaves. I love the sound of the crunch underfoot, and just the smell of all of the foliage.
Dear Mama,
I'm sorry for flattening the couch cushions.
It occurred to me that it's been a while since I've posted any photos of Tessa. Or talked about her, for that matter.
A few weeks ago, we started talking about letting Tessa off of her leash more often. She's older now (3 years old), and tends to be a bit wiser. Also, all she ever wants to do is be with us. We're not really afraid of her running off, since wherever we go, she tends to follow.
She has been off of her leash before, but only when we are in the mountains. We are afraid of her running into traffic, so we would never let her off if we were anywhere near a street. In the Poconos, that's not really a problem as we're always staying at a place that has lots of land. So that was always the only place that we really felt comfortable letting her off the leash.
Until now.
One night after dinner, we took her to a nearby school to walk around. The school is set back pretty far from any roads, and they have huge fields for sports. We figured, hey, we'll let her off her leash and see what she does.
It turns out that she absolutely loves it. The minute I unclip her, it's like she's thinking, "I'm freeeeeeee!" But she's also really good, just as we expected she'd be. Her biggest problem is that she gets easily distracted, sniffing around instead of listening to us. Also, if she sees birds, she'll take off running after them. Luckily, she never goes far before turning around to come back to us, but this behavior reinforces the fact that we'll never let her off anywhere that could pose any type of dangers to her.
Anyway, we've been running her at the school pretty regularly now. We run her up and down the fields, encouraging her to chase us back and forth. And let me tell you--little girl is FAST. She really tears it up, and it's hilarious.
Last weekend, when we got home from visiting Michael's sister, we took her to the school for a bit of running time before it got dark. I decided to bring my camera to capture some action shots of her play. I cropped them quite a bit, so they're not the sharpest photos, but here are a couple of our favorites:
Look: She doesn't even have any legs touching the ground. She's running so fast, all four legs are in the air. And the ears? Straight up. So funny.
Here she is, once again barreling straight toward me. She runs as fast as she possibly can, then runs right in between my legs before slowing down and circling back to me for praise and a little rest. Love her.
We're going to try to take her out this weekend and get some more pics, and perhaps some video. If we get anything good, I'm sure I won't be able to resist sharing it.
Have I mentioned how much I love spring/summer? It is such a joy to be outside.
It started off well. I skipped the gym today in favor of enjoying time outside, opting instead to take Tessa for a long walk. When we left the house, it was really nice out. Warm, and even a little bit sunny.
But just as we reached our halfway point, just as we were the furthest away from home we could possibly be while on our route, the skies decided to open up.
At first, it was just a few drops. I didn't think much of it.
Then it started to sprinkle. It actually felt refreshing.
Then? Pretty steady rain. I thought, well, we'll probably be pretty wet by the time we get home. But I continued to listen to my iPod, and figured we'd be fine.
But then things suddenly changed. The wind picked up, and all of a sudden, it started pouring. I was getting pelted in the face with rain, and I had to continually wipe my eyes because I was getting to a point where I was dripping wet.
When we were a little more than half a mile from home, I started to worry about my iPod and BlackBerry. I took out my earbuds and stuffed everything deep down into the pockets of my shorts. And then? We made a run for it.
Part of a shortcut to get home cuts across a school's property, and when we were running down past the school, I started to hear thunder and saw small flashes of lightning. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, it was still teeming rain.) I decided that it probably wasn't a good time to go running across an open field, so I made a quick decision to bolt down toward the school and seek cover under a small overhang by one of the doors.
We waited it out for about 5 minutes, at which point I wasn't hearing much thunder anymore. The rain was still coming down, but not quite as badly as before. And so we ran. And RAN. We took the quickest, most direct route we could, splashing through ginormous puddles and cutting across muddy grass. Don't forget--my little dog is 11 lbs. and has approximately 6-inch legs. But she was a trooper.
When we got home, I couldn't resist taking a few photos and a little video of just how wet we actually were. SOAKED! Completely and utterly soaked (including my knickers!). I actually wringed an impressive amount of water out of my socks, shorts, and t-shirt.
But in the end, my iPod and BlackBerry survived (thankfully!), and we made it home safely. So it was actually kinda fun. It was quite the adventure.
Oh, and for the record? It's no longer raining. And of course it isn't. Why would it be, now that we're inside?
When we have babies some day, we don't have to worry about them taking up permanent residence in our bed. There's not much room, because we already have a warm little body who sleeps between us.
Her name is Tessa.
She's an 11 lb. miniature dachshund who undoubtedly thinks she is a human baby. And this is how she sleeps with us. No joke. All cuddled up, on her back, completely passed out.
In the cold winter months, she usually burrows under all of the covers and sleeps curled up next to our legs, but now that it's too hot under there, she's back up right in between us. And even after three years with our little "baby," we still can't get over the hilariousness.
I have to say, though... she is an excellent cuddler. Top notch.
Happy Easter!
To celebrate the holiday, we attended noon Mass at the church down the street from us, then headed to my mom's for a family dinner. It was nice and sunny here today, but cold (only around 40 degrees). We grilled vegetables and chicken, and paired them with rice pilaf and multigrain dinner rolls. Yum.
Family portrait out on my mom's deck.
I snapped a lot of photos of the dogs because, let's face it, they are so damn cute.
Remember Miller? He's a lot bigger now! Little buddy is growing so fast.
Look at how perfectly he was sitting there for his portrait. So cute.
Showing off his tricks while the guys grill outside. This one is "give me your paw." :)
"High five."
After chasing each other on the deck for a while, Tessa was tired of it (and probably cold, too) and wanted to hang out inside. The two of them kept tabs on each other though; even when on the opposite sides of the glass door!
Tess did make her way back outside a few times. She loves the sunshine!
Miller likes the sun, too. This was his position while we were eating dinner.
The dogs helped "rinse" the dishes in preparation for the dishwasher.
All in all, we had a really nice Easter. Now I'm sitting here wondering how it's possible for three-day weekends to go by so quickly. How is it that they seem to go by even faster than regular weekends? Not cool.
Posts
All Comments
© Blogger template On The Road by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009
Back to TOP
